TMFLomax (75.84)

From Getting Mugged to Getting Conned...

17

Yeah, that's right, I can't seem to go longer than a week or two before getting riled up again about our policymakers and the economic situation. OK, I am generally pretty riled up but that seems to be the amount of time when I collect my thoughts and write about it for Fool.com... so here's this week's edition in case anybody is interested: Confidence -- or Con Game.

Heehee DemonDoug... in reality I think I look a little peaked... I don't know if your grandmother used to say that but mine did... "You're looking a little peaked!" haha... but, I am glad you didn't say... wow you must be a real downer to be around, Lomax. ;)

And Tastylunch, you're right, I am very fortunate. BTW, I liked your CapsGiving post... it was nice and very true, it is a cool community here in Caps land!

Thank you rd80... I think the editors probably breathed a sigh of relief I didn't use any turns of phrase like "metaphorical pants soiling" like I did in the mugged article. ;)

Great stuff, Alyce...love the turn of phrase on confidence/confidence game...can't wait to see what the next felony will be...mugged...conned...fleeced, perhaps? (Bernanke is cloning dollar bills like sheep/Bernanke is pulling the wool over our eyes)?

what can i tell you alyce, i love your spunk (and general outlook). Shame you're on the wrong coast otherwise I'd let you buy me a drink sometime. ;)

(flirting isn't against the terms of service is it?)

On a more serious note, I love Motley Fool in terms of what it does well, and that is fundamental analysis of individual stocks. The problem is that the Fool has disregarded macro factors, and this is something that Wall Street has peddled for many years (you can't time the market, you shouldn't try to time the market, keep buying, the stock market always goes up in the long term, etc.) So the more bearishness you bring to the table, the better that balance gets IMO.

I use a combination of fool.com, yahoo finance, mish's blog, and itulip.com to make my finance decisions. It was itulip that really got me to remove much of my capital from the markets, and this was in 2007, near the top. No one site can ever completely provide everything an individual investor is looking for, but there needs to be more responsibility and balance, so articles like this one really do a good service to the site.

Fleeced... I like it! Especially the Dolly connection. Maybe next time...and I'm sure there will be a next time. I get so worked up about this stuff!

DemonDoug, haha, thank you for the compliments. I don't think they're against the terms of service!

I agree with you that the macro factors are important. And yeah I have a contrary bear streak... even in good times I try to question, what are the risks, what are the challenges... of course I have noticed in bull markets that kind of attitude doesn't go over very well. ;) But I think it is important to challenge ourselves to at least go in knowing what risks may be...and right now there are a heck of a lot of risks, not least of which are the economic policies that seem disturbing and downright anti-market.

Maybe I'm strange but for all that I am terribly concerned about the economic policies, and also unhappy with my own losses and the thought of other people's losses, I still have a long-term optimism that I find hard to shake. Maybe it's too dogmatic of me but I still think this is one of those blood running in the streets scenarios that will be good for long-term (and maybe longer than a lot of people can stand) investors who invest now, as long as they're looking for the strong companies with cash, no debt, the leaders, the ones with good management and strong business models. Like I liked your recent post about the debt-free companies. I think that's a great strategy right now. And despite all that disturbs me I still hope that things can be turned around, and believe we shouldn't just roll and should instead make our voices heard... try not to sugarcoat that yes, there is a lot of risk right now, it is scary, and there is reason to look these things straight in the eye and make our decisions accordingly. Believe me, I listen to what the grizzly bear bears say and try to re-assess. It's no time to close the ears. (And clearly I don't think it's time to just roll with the powers that be and not question what the heck they're doing with economic policy lol.)

OK, I've gone from ranting to rambling. I think it's good for everybody to have at least a little "bear" in them, though -- and different points of view and discussions are so important in that analytical process. I think it's great that you have a variety of sites you use that help you make your decisions. And I'll have to check out itulip, I've never even heard of that site!